


houston, shit has hit the fan in a spectacular fashion

by DestinysBounty (MVPYurio), whichlights



Series: evergreen [5]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, M/M, Past Torture, Vampires, snorros can fuck right off this isnt for u and i will fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 07:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12008166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MVPYurio/pseuds/DestinysBounty, https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichlights/pseuds/whichlights
Summary: Kids are going missing all over the US, and something just doesn't feel right to Lloyd as he investigates. In fact, something feels really, really wrong—and familiar. Someone really, really awful has resurfaced, and... well, the shit has wholeheartedly hit the fan.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> houston, we have a problem.
> 
> also as mentioned in the tags, snorros can fuck right off. we reserve the right to scream at anyone who has the audacity to ask us about greenstorm. don't fucking do it, you slimy fucking rags
> 
> oh and yes this one is going to have multiple chapters. we honestly just don't know when to shut up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of all the people, it had to be him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go, the first multi-chapter of evergreen! have fun! (as we throw angst at you)

Human kids were disappearing from the States.

Faeries got reports of every missing kid—sometimes they were able to find them. At first, of course, one singular kid was a misfortune, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Then the next one. Then the next one.

And that’s when they noticed the pattern.

The kids disappeared in the middle of the night, no house alarms were triggered, no windows were unlocked, nothing was displaced. Just a missing child. And when the Faerie Board of Investigation (the FBI) went to the scenes, there was evidence of magic. Almost like the spell that took kids into Faerie.

Except every kid that was stolen was in a happy, healthy home. If a faerie was taking them, they were acting against the law. Which was, y’know, _illegal._

Lloyd wanted to help, and joined one of the volunteer teams to investigate a disappearance in Austin. That was how bad the situation had gotten—the regular FBI teams weren’t enough, and they needed volunteers.

So to Austin he went, along with Kai, their sister Nya, and a few other faeries.

“Something isn’t right about this,” Lloyd muttered.

“Dude, you’ve said that like… twenty times,” said Kai.

“No. No, I mean. I can sense something. Familiar. And bad. But I can’t place it.”

“Well, maybe you’ll figure it out once we get to the house,” Nya suggested. “Don’t worry, Lloyd. I have a bad feeling too.”

“Alright, target house is about three blocks up,” one of the other faeries called from the front. “Jay, you’re going in first, yeah?”

“Roger that. Parents won’t suspect a thing.”

“God, those poor parents.”

“Poor _kid._ Wait, crap. Do we even have a file on the kid? Do we even know the kid’s name?”

“I have it.”

“Zane, you’re a life-saver. Quick, brief us before we get there.”

“Catalina Cordova, age sixteen. Usually goes by Cat. You’ll be dealing with her parents, Ana María and José, her grandmother Marisol, and, this is the real hard one, her twin sibling, Luz. Previous logs indicate that Cat and Luz are best friends, and so Luz will be in great pain over losing their sister. She has a brother as well—Miguel—but he’s one and a half, so I don’t think he’ll be a real issue to deal with. There’s also another name on file associated with her—a friend, possibly a girlfriend, Safia Nassir, who also did not go missing. The last team that was by the house noted that Safia was present, so we may be seeing her again.”

“Have I mentioned you’re a life-saver, Zane?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you are.”

Lloyd tried to listen in—honestly, he did—and he was pretty sure he’d taken it in, although he’d long lost track of who was saying what—but he was distracted by the creeping feeling, the sense of familiarity, as they got closer and closer to the house.

“Hang in there,” Nya said quietly. “I feel it too.”

“Hey, Lloyd, can you swap with me and be with Jay in front?” Kai asked. “You’re a lot less threatening-looking than I am; the parents might take to you better when we’re trying to investigate their house.”

“Yeah, sure,” Lloyd replied. Kai ruffled his hair as they passed each other. “Heyyyy.”

“Something’s up,” Kai murmured to Nya as he slipped in place next to her. “We’ve been looking after Lloyd for years. _Centuries._ I don’t know how the hell he’s picking up on something ‘familiar’ that we’re not picking up on, at least not in the same way.”

“I have a theory,” Nya admitted quietly. “Remember when we went away for a year, and—”

The light left Kai’s eyes instantly. “Oh, _fucking shit._ You don’t actually think—”

“—It makes sense and you know it.”

“Let’s not think about it. Not until we know for sure.”

“Kai. You know that—”

“—Don’t remind me. It’s a long shot, anyway. Right?” Nya was silent. _“Right?!”_

“I’m switching with Zane,” said Nya. “Stay back.”

“Yeah, _no shit._ ”

~~~~

“This is her room?” Lloyd tried.

“Yes, Agent Garmadon,” Luz said, looking at Lloyd with big eyes. Lloyd wondered why he’d used his father’s name for this mission. He usually didn’t.

“Is it usually this cold in here?” Lloyd asked.

“No.”

Lloyd looked around, and had to muffle his scream. “Those- those words. Were they there before?”

“What words?” Luz looked at the same section of wall as Lloyd. “I don’t see anything.”

“Ha, trick question,” Lloyd laughed slightly. His brain was going on overtime. _Obviously magic- my bet is that other faeries wouldn’t see it either, but…_ “Hey, Smith, get in here.”

Kai popped his head in the room. Lloyd nodded to the wall, and mouthed _magic?_ Kai looked at it, and said, “What do you need me for, Garmadon?”

“Wanted your opinion. Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Nope.”

“Oh. Okay.” Lloyd felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. _It’s me. It’s for me. He knew I’d be here._

_How could he know that?_

Staring Lloyd back in the face were glowing green words painted on sloppily with drips and splatters, and a smiley face at the end.

_What’s up, cuz? :)_

“I… I have to go!” Lloyd pushed his way out the door.

_~~~~_

“We have a Code ‘Houston, the shit’s hit the fan in spectacular fashion,’ y’all,” Kai said as the other faeries looked at him in confusion. Lloyd had flown out the door and made it to the corner before teleporting out. “Nya, y’know that thing where I hate admitting you’re right?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll never do that ever again, ever.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t particularly like being right at the moment.”

“Fair enough.”

“So what do we do?” Nya asked. “Cause I hate to tell you, but Lloyd’s probably the only faerie who can crack this.”

“Okay, can someone please explain what the heck is going on?” Jay asked, loudly.

“We know who’s behind this,” Kai explained. “Nya and Lloyd and my cousin. Well, Lloyd’s cousin technically, but Lloyd’s our adoptive brother so… whatever, cousin works. Nya and I let him babysit Lloyd for a year when Lloyd was really little and let’s just say… it was a really, really big mistake. I have no clue why he’s showing up again now.”

“But he’s bad?”

“Really bad,” said Nya.

“Wait, how do you know?” Cole asked. “We scoured that house, and there was nothing identifiable.”

“Not that we could see,” said Kai. “Fucking prick somehow knew Lloyd would be investigating and left him a secret message. Lloyd cast a revealing spell just before he took off.”

“How the hell did he know that—”

“—Don’t know, don’t care. All I know is that this just stopped becoming about kids and started being about my little brother, and I’m pissed.”

“Wait, hold on,” said Cole. “You said when Lloyd was really little. Like, how little are we talking?”

“Seven? Eight?”

“That was over five hundred years ago,” said Cole. “So if he’s resurfacing after all these years…”

“To quote Apollo from Percy Jackson: _That would be real bad._ ”

~~~~

Lloyd was an idiot when he sent that text.

 

How do you breathe????

youre asking a vampire for breathing advice?

oh  
Shit now that i think about it  
sorry

Whats wrong?

Its  
A long story

I have eternity

ive never told you about my cousin have i

you have a cousin?

well thats obviously a no  
I have a cousin. his name is morro  
Its… bad.

lloyd?  
lloyd its been half an hour are you okay?

Shit yah im fine just had to do a debriefing  
sorry

as long as youre okay

morro is stealing human kids.

wait what??

human kids are being stolen- not saved, stolen -and its him

how do you know

He. he left me a message  
Sorry shit i cant do this over text.  
Come over? I need something to hold onto

on the way greenie

~~~~

“Why couldn’t you tell me about your cousin over the phone? Just wondering. What, are you having a moral dilemma over turning him in?” Micah asked, sitting cross legged on the grass in front of Lloyd’s family house.

Lloyd snorted. “God, no. He… it’s personal. When I was seven, Kai and Nya had to go undercover—I forget the exact reason—and their parents still were missing. So they let Morro babysit me.”

“I’m assuming the rest of this story goes bad.”

“You know about faeries and iron, right?”

“It’s poisonous to them. To you. Lloyd…”

With twitchy, hesitant movements, Lloyd unclenched his right hand from where it was gripping the grass, and held it out to Micah. All across his palm and most of his fingers was a burn scar, looking almost silver. His eyes were glazed over, and he spoke like it was from a script or prompt he was seeing for the first time. “He tricked me into touching cold iron. I didn’t know any better—sometimes faerie children don’t know that iron is poisonous because no one tells them, because _everyone_ knows.”

“May I?” Micah whispered. Lloyd gave a sharp nod, and Micah took his hand. “This would probably be more reassuring if I had body heat, huh.”

“This is fine,” Lloyd said.

“Lloyd, that’s terrible.”

“That’s not all he did. He was a lot better at magic than I was—I have scars on my biceps from when he wrapped roses around my arms and enchanted them to grow their thorns. He knocked me over with his wind and I have scars on my back from the rocks I fell on. The snakes he charmed, the…” Lloyd broke off, and couldn’t finish the sentence. “I. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Micah said gently, giving Lloyd’s hand a squeeze. “Listen, I’m glad you told me. It’s always good to get these things out in the open.”

“He has kids,” Lloyd whispered. “He has human kids. He’s kidnapped human kids and who even knows what he’s doing to them now. He could be doing what he did to me… or he could be doing worse. And they can’t even fight back; they don’t have any magic—”

“Lloyd, breathe,” Micah reminded. “Passing out isn’t gonna help you.”

“What if I’d stayed?” Lloyd asked. “If Kai and Nya hadn’t brought me back—”

“—Hold the phone right the fuck there,” Micah said firmly. “Nope. Nnnnope. We’re not even going there. Nope.”

“Let me finish!” Lloyd yelled, and Micah was quiet. “Maybe, if he’d had someone else to go after, had someone to fuck with long-term, he wouldn’t have to kidnap human kids.”

“No point in running what-ifs,” said Micah. “This is where we are. Here and now. And besides, I dunno if he would have even wanted you to stay for longer than that year. He sounds like he really hated you.”

“He didn’t hate me,” Lloyd said quietly. “He just didn’t care about me. He liked being in control. The way he doesn’t care about those human kids—he just wants control.”

“Either way. No point in going down that path.”

“He left me a message on the wall that only I could see.”

“Okay, so he’s a drama queen who took a shot in the dark.”

“He knew I’d show up.”

“Or he was taking a wild guess and happened to be right.”

“He knew. I could tell, being in the room. He knew I was coming.”

“Okay, so he knew you were gonna show up and left you a message. I’m sorry; I don’t see what point you’re trying to make here.”

“Well, there’s a very simple solution,” said Lloyd. “I turn myself in and the kids walk free, hopefully at least somewhat unscathed.”

Micah gripped Lloyd’s hand tighter. “Don’t you dare.”

“Why not?! It’ll work!”

“Lloyd, don’t you dare trade yourself in.”

“Again. Why the fuck not?!”

“Because first off, you have no idea whether he’ll actually let the kids go—”

“—I can negotiate—”

“—Nope, now it’s my turn. Let me finish. First off, you have no idea whether he’ll actually let the kids go. Second off, last I checked, you have two kids, whom you absolutely adore and adore you, who wouldn’t have a father anymore. And then there’s the most important issue here, which is the fact that this guy is literally evil and letting him torture you for all of eternity is possibly the stupidest idea I have ever heard.”

Lloyd drew his hand away, and wouldn’t look Micah in the eye.

~~~~

The investigations continued. Lloyd didn’t join in on any of them, instead passing Kai a stone that would allow them all to see Morro’s messages. Lloyd focused on the investigation from where he’d locked himself away in his room. Morro’s smiley faces changed directions in every message, and once Lloyd had the data from the houses before Austin, he realized they all averaged out and that was how Lloyd was standing in front of an empty apartment complex in Boston.

It wasn’t hard. Plus, the first letter of every city had spelled out an address. Lloyd stared at the building so long he was surprised it didn’t fall apart under the sheer anger in his glare.

Lloyd closed his eyes and breathed. “He wanted me to find him. He wanted me to find him. He _wanted_ me to find him.”

Lloyd backed up. There was grave dirt all around the building, dampening his powers. “Alright, Lloyd, you’re just here to look. We’re just looking.”

 _Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry._ Morro tended to smile when he cried, and ask if he was alright.

Lloyd pulled his hood up further over his head. No one was running at him. He’d looked. He took one step forward, then froze, and walked back to the closest faerie ring…

Which Micah was standing by impatiently, arms crossed and foot tapping. “Nice tour?”

“Fuck off,” Lloyd snapped, and Micah seemed startled, and a little hurt, and Lloyd felt bad for shoving past him and just going into the faerie ring.

~~~~

“Lloyd? Come on, kiddo, when was the last time you ate?” Kai’s voice asked from the other side of Lloyd’s closed door.

“Told you, not hungry.”

“You haven’t been hungry for five days.”

“I’m not hungry, Kai, so drop it.”

“Fine.” Kai sounded disappointed, and sighed. “Micah’s here, by the way.”

“Micah? What’s he doing here?”

“He did promise Sam he’d visit often. And Eliza adores him, too.”

Lloyd perked up, slightly. “Where are they?”

“Garden. Micah brought a friend, too. His roommate, Ari.”

“Okay.” Lloyd said. “Okay, I’ll be right down.”

“Not until you eat _one_ bowl of cereal. It’s a small bowl.”

“Fine.”

“Hanging in there?” Nya asked, rubbing Kai’s arm lightly.

“Trying. I just. Trying to remind myself that…”

“There was nothing we could do back then,” Nya finished. “We had no idea.”

“I’m worried he’s gonna do something gloriously stupid.”

“Me too.”

“Micah knows something. He’s not telling us, but he knows something.”

“Don’t press it.”

“I won’t.”

Lloyd meandered out of his room and picked at his cereal.

“You know I’m not gonna let Micah in here until you’re done with that cereal bowl, right?” Kai asked. Lloyd flipped him the bird.

“Eliza’ll let him in.”

“Like hell she will. Eat.”

“Why?”

“Because you want to crack this case, and you won’t be able to do that if you die of malnutrition,” Nya interjected. “Eat.”

Lloyd muttered something about sisters under his breath and finished his cereal. “Happy now?”

“It’s a start,” said Nya. “Go outside; fresh air will do you good. And seeing your children. They’re worried about you.”

“I’m worried about them too,” Lloyd muttered. “The more time I’m around them, the less they can stay under the radar.”

“Hey. Don’t worry about that. We’ll keep your kids safe.”

“What, the Office? They’re useless.”

“Nah. You think that volunteer team that went to Austin was official, or that the faeries on it were official? Jay and Cole and Zane and I have been doing shit undercover for centuries. Nya helps, but she actually cares about her day job. Lloyd. Your kids will be fine. Now go see them.”

Micah was in the garden and the sunlight was making him practically glow. He was kneeling next to Sam and braiding her a flower crown.  He caught sight of Lloyd and his entire face _lit up_ with a grin that could rival the sun and stars themselves. He waved him over, and Lloyd tried to remind himself that Micah was a vampire, not an angel.

“Sunlight?” Lloyd managed. “You’re not burning to a crisp?”

“A few hundred years ago I became a Daylighter. Don’t ask me how. The pros are that sunlight doesn’t do anything to me. I have yet to find a con.” Micah handed Sam the flower crown. “Tada.”

“ _Merci_ ,” Sam laughed.

Micah pointed across the garden. “Over there with Eliza, that’s my friend Ari. She’s Dracula’s daughter, and she _hates_ it when I tell people that,” he said gleefully.

Micah looked at him, all smiles and an open expression. “How are you?”

Lloyd couldn’t lie, so he lied the only way he could: avoiding the question. “Should I be worried Sam likes you better than me?”

“What? No, she doesn’t! She just likes me.”

“Promise,” Sam said. “Ari said she was going to show us pictures of her crush, so I’ll be over there. Love ya, papa!”

“Love you, too.” Lloyd waved as she ran across the garden.

“You never answered my question.”

“Hm?”

“About how you were.”

“I didn’t think it needed to be answered.”

Micah’s expression froze over. “Lloyd. Let me help.”

“No, Morro broke faerie law, so this is faerie business.”

“He hurt you, and I-” Micah paused, then continued, “you’re my friend. That makes it my business.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Lloyd,” Micah said warningly.

“Micah,” he replied in the same tone.

“Lloyd, I want to help.”

“Too bad, you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because! It’s none of your business, so stay out of it!”

“Of course, I forgot,” Micah laughed bitterly. “Faeries are so _stuck up_ they can’t stand anyone messing with their precious _faerie business._ ”

“And I forgot vampires were so _stubborn_ they don’t understand when to quit!” Lloyd snapped.

“Lloyd, you’re shutting everyone out and it isn’t going to make you feel any better! Just—”

“Stop!” Lloyd shouted. “I do _not_ need all of you telling me what I can and can’t or should and shouldn’t do!”

“Just listen to me!”

Lloyd was silent before saying, “I’m not going to tell you to leave, because my kids adore you. But I am going to leave this garden and go up to my room and if you even _think_ about following me, I will kick your ass. Understood?”

With that, he turned and marched away.

“Lloyd,” Micah said softly, almost pathetically, but it was too late.

“You should go,” Eliza said quietly. “I know he wants to protect me and Sam and not put us in the middle and all, and that’s great, but he needs space, and if you’re here, he’s going to keep wanting to run back out.”

“I was already planning on it,” Micah replied. “Eliza, I love you, and I love your sibling, but I’m not gonna lie and say that I’m not upset too.”

“Micah, come on,” said Ari. “Let’s go. It was nice to meet you, kiddos.”

“You too,” said Eliza, waving. “Oh, and Micah?”

“Yeah?”

“When this all gets worked out, and all of this is over, you have maybe like… a week to tell papa you like him, before Sam and I intervene. And don’t think we won’t get Uncle Kai and the others involved, either.”

Micah wanted to snap, wanted to say that right now he didn’t really feel all that loving, and he could have said that had he wanted to, but for some reason, he didn’t want to lie.

“Okay,” he said. “Seeya.”

~~~~

Lloyd’s poor wall didn’t deserve to be kicked so fiercely. It wasn’t its fault that his life sucked.

“Stupid! Morro!” He growled.

“Lloyd!” Lloyd turned around so fast he fell over.

“Micah? What the hell?”

Micah was standing in his doorway, hair messed up and eyes wide. “Okay, I’m totally invading your space right now, so I need you to trust me that I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t completely dire.”

“What happened?”

“Ari. I turned around and she was gone.” Micah hesitantly handed Lloyd a piece of paper. “This was in her place. It’s blank to me.”

_What’s up, cuz? :)_

Lloyd crumbled it up and tossed it to the corner. Micah flinched. “Morro?”

“Morro.”

“Shit,” Micah muttered.

Lloyd threw his glass of water at the spot he’d been kicking, watching as the glass shattered and water spilled everywhere. “This is all—”

“—Don’t. For my sake. For Ari’s sake. Don’t.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s unproductive.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She’s smart. She’s resourceful. She’ll hold on until we find her. And she’ll do what she can to protect those kids.”

“No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I shut you out. If you hadn’t left the garden and I’d let you help—”

“—I’m not going to let you finish this time, and you can be pissed if you want, but the longer we talk about what could have happened, the less time we have to save everyone.”

Lloyd nodded, biting his lip. “I’m still mad at you. Kinda.”

“I can’t say I’m the happiest with you, either. And we can deal with that. I _want_ to deal with that.”

“You do?”

“What’s the alternative?”

“Pretending it never happened?”

“Nope. That’ll just make things worse. We’re friends—at least, I think we’re friends—and leaving arguments hanging in the air and pretending we didn’t have them won’t help.”

“Oh.”

“Once this is over, and you feel ready to talk about it, we can talk about what happened,” said Micah. “But for right now, we do need to push it aside, and save Ari and those kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit has, indeed, hit the fan. will our heroes figure it out? the world will never know.
> 
> tumblrs!
> 
> witchlightsands (rose)
> 
> she-doesnt-even-ninjagohere and mod allura on queenshippingofficial (lia)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Journey, as it were. Or, Lloyd and Micah traverse to Hell itself to save some kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lia here, with a long AN for y'all because a lot needs to be said.
> 
> 1\. Fun stuff before we get into the less fun stuff: all of the random cameos here are references to Rose and my (on indefinite hiatus) comic, [_Indomitable Spirit!!!!_](https://indomitablespiritcomic.tumblr.com) Cat, the girl whose house Lloyd investigated, is the MC in that comic, alongside Luz and Safia, and Ari is actually a character from an in-world TV show we've written for IS!!!! called Biters.
> 
> 2\. Okay, back to business. This is gonna involve some magically induced and reasonably intense (well, at least for Rose and my asexual asses) making out. It'll make sense later, but I will say now that the making out is not magically induced by either party involved in the making out.
> 
> 3\. There's a big ol' showdown in this between Lloyd and his dickwad cousin, and it was written by Rose, who actually has seen Ninjago s5, and well, it reads that way. The showdown is going to be intense, y'all. Rose and I have that little chat window in our google doc going, and the intensity of this showdown warranted an announcement of, and I quote, "im gonna! fuckin write the confrontation! u cant stop me!" Take that as you will.
> 
> 4\. We already said this last chapter, but in this chapter it needs to be said again, and this time I'm going to put it in bold: **If you came to this fic because you saw Morro's name in the tags and are here for any dynamic between Lloyd and Morro besides the one that ACTUALLY FUCKING EXISTS IN CANON; namely, a fucking horror show of abusive nastiness, and ESPECIALLY if you're here because you fucking ship them, I strongly encourage you to tap-dance the _FUCK_ out of here, preferably with shoes that are _LITERALLY ON FIRE_ , because _that is not fucking happening under any goddamn motherfucking circumstance._**
> 
> For more information, I encourage you to take a listen to [my original song on the matter](https://sing-a-rebel-song.tumblr.com/post/160995335615/apparently-one-should-never-ever-underestimate).
> 
> Okay yeah, that's all. Enjoy.

Morro’s fortress wasn’t the secret. Getting in was the trick.

“If I know Morro, and unfortunately I do,” Lloyd said, putting his hand against the door, “he'll have spells put up all around this place, and they’ll probably be nasty.”

Micah crossed his arms. “Look, man, he’s been stealing kids. Not saving, stealing. And he took my roommate, who’s basically like a little sister to me. So, with absolutely _no_ respect to his ass because I don’t owe him jack shit, but with all due respect to you, I don't give a tap-dancing fuck what spells he has up. Break them down.”

“God, I wish,” said Lloyd. “Unfortunately, I can't break them if I don't know what they are. But I can shield us against harmful magic.”

“Mind defining ‘harmful’ for me?”

“Harmful as in, causing serious injury or illness. If I try to protect us against anything else, I’ll drain myself out.” Lloyd shuddered. “Besides, this place is surrounded by grave dirt. He probably doesn't come in or out much, and the effect will be weaker once we’re inside, but…”

“By the time you have the strength to protect us, it'll be too late,” Micah sighed. “Okay, whatever. Let's just go in and hope for the best, alright?”

Lloyd nodded and pushed the door in. A cold wind blew through the entrance room. It was shaped like a box, with grey walls and locked doors. The entrance slammed shut behind them as Micah walked in.

“Did you feel that?” Lloyd asked. “Wind. Where could it have come from in here?” The room had seemed bare at first, but the walls had lots of texture to them now that Lloyd looked around. In fact, everything seemed brighter, more vivid, more textured, more _everything,_ as if someone had turned on a sensory switch that Lloyd hadn’t even known he had. He let out a soft whimper at the overstimulation.

“Lloyd?” Micah’s soft, concerned voice asked from just behind him. Micah. Micah. _Micah._ Micahmicahmicah _micah._ Lloyd turned around and there he was. Red hair that fell in waves, green eyes that almost glowed in the dark, and that slight smile and the glint in his eyes he got when he was determined. Lloyd could stare at him _forever._

And then, suddenly, the look in Micah’s eye changed, from concerned to—

 _“Lloyd,”_ he whispered, stepping closer. One hand drifted to Lloyd's chest, and the other to his waist. Lloyd's breath caught in his throat, and he reached up to tangle his hands in Micah's hair, pulling him down for a kiss.

Micah seemed happy to oblige, and Lloyd ended up pinned to a wall as Micah kissed him. Micah's hands couldn't seem to decide if they wanted to push Lloyd further against the wall or pull him closer, but whatever. This was _perfect._

“Fucking shit,” Lloyd gasped, and Micah pulled away, looking alarmed. “Oh, no, you’re fine. You’re awesome. Keep doing _exactly_ what you’re doing.”

Micah's usually cocky smile split his face, that determined glint all but casting shadows around the room. “Yeah?”

“Dear fucking God, yes.”

"Okay," Micah leaned back in. "Okay, okay, kay, oh—"

Annnnd back against the wall. Micah’s left hand trailed from Lloyd’s waist to just under the hem of his shirt, startling Lloyd with the lack of body heat.

And then, suddenly, a sharp _prick._ Apparently, Micah’s fangs were out, probably by accident, and one of them had just scraped Lloyd’s lip, cutting him. Lloyd snapped away, putting a finger to the cut.

“God, sorry, I'm so sorry…” Micah started.

“It's okay; it was an accident.” Lloyd stared at the blood on his finger, and then suddenly everything shifted again. The colors, the sounds, the textures, all went back to the way they had been before. Lloyd realized that it had all been a hallucination—no, _fucking Morro_ and his _fucking defense spells._

Goddammit to hell—oh, shit, Micah. He muttered a counterspell under his breath and put a hand on Micah's arm. “Micah. _Micah._ Snap out of it.”

Micah blinked, and stumbled away from Lloyd, jumping back five feet. “What the fuck? Did we just—did I—what—”

“Distractor spell.” Lloyd kicked the ground, not meeting Micah's eyes, trying not to think about what they’d just done. “Keeps you from completing your objective, like stopping an evil faerie, and makes you focus on the thing you'd naturally find most distracting.”

“So—so it made us do that? The spell?”

For like the thirtieth time since all of this fucking Morro shit, Lloyd silently cursed his inability to lie. Because the truth was, that wasn’t how the spell worked. The spell in the room wasn’t like a vampire’s encanto in that it hadn’t removed their volition or free will. Rather, it had removed their inhibitions, turning the little voice that said _stop_ into a much louder voice that said _go._

In other words, the spell didn’t _make_ Lloyd and Micah make out against the wall of Morro’s creepy ass foyer. The very fact that Lloyd and Micah _had_ made out against the wall of Morro’s creepy ass foyer, implied that both of them _had already wanted to make out._

And _that_ was not something that Lloyd wanted to bring up. Hence the whole thing about cursing his inability to lie.

“The best way I can think to explain it,” Lloyd said, slowly, “is that that thing made us act like we were drunk. Now come on.”

“How did we snap out of it?” Micah asked.

Lloyd smiled. That, thank God, was an easy question. “Old spell. I forgot I had it. Any time I start bleeding, any magic I didn't cast on myself gets cast off. And once I’d snapped out of it, freeing you wasn’t all that hard.”

“Well… thanks.”

“Come on; we've lost time.”

~~~~

“Morro!” Lloyd yelled, running up the stairs, into a hallway full of doors. “I’m here!”

The second door on the left opened up, and Morro stepped out into the hallway with open arms. “What’s up, cuz?” He grinned.

Lloyd grabbed his knife, and tried to ignore the frost creeping over the hilt from where his hand held it. “Where are the kids?”

“Why do you care? Oh, right, because you’re _weak_.” Morro rolled his eyes, and snapped his fingers. A snake, six feet long and bright green, materialized in front of Lloyd. He took a step back. “You were always partial to snakes. No matter how much they bit you, you wouldn’t kill them. See, Lloyd, your compassion makes you predictable. Anything that makes you predictable is a weakness.”

“Enough games,” Lloyd whispered. “You can’t hide.”

“As I recall, within three days of you finding a message from me, you found me. I’m not hiding.”

“You had defenses up-”

Morro laughed. That alone was enough to make Lloyd was to run for the Land Under the Hill. “That? Well, it would have been much easier if you two had kept each other busy until hell froze over, but this is a lot more fun!”

“Just let the kids go,” Lloyd whispered.

“What will you give me for them?”

“Almost anything.”

“Micah.”

Lloyd’s eyes darkened immediately. “Not on the table.”

“Why not?” Morro whined. Then he yawned. “Alright, alright. I didn’t want that anyways. What I want is to know why you allow that snake to curl around your ankles, why you’re here with a knife that is rapidly becoming useless because of your fear, and why you have _absolutely no survival instinct_.”

“I don’t care if I die.” Lloyd admitted it freely.

Morro’s eyebrows raised. “Now, that, I didn’t see coming, and I’m surprised at myself.”

Lloyd dropped his knife and took a step forward until his scarred hand was in Morro’s face. Morro blinked. “What? What are you showing me?”

“You gave me this. Iron burns don’t heal.”

“You’re still upset about that? Oh, come _on,_ that was half a _millennium_ ago. Again, predictable! Are you going to show me every scar I ever gave you? Every papercut?”

“Why?” Lloyd screamed. “Why me?”

“You’re rapidly boring me. Don’t bore me, Lloyd.”

“Why did you take those kids?”

“I was bored.”

“You’re dangerous when you’re bored.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

Lloyd snapped and blasted Morro with a face full of fire. Morro backed up, spluttering. “Weak, dirty flames. Too close to do actual damage. Singed my hair. Is that the best you can do?”

Part of Lloyd realized that this was what Morro wanted. And the only thing more dangerous than a bored Morro was an angry Morro.

Most of him just really wanted to lash out with every piece of magic he had.

~~~~

As the sound of yells and blasts of magic filled the air, Micah was crouched in a hallway, phone out. _Please, Ari, be the normal teenager that you are and have your phone on you…_

 

im here

About fucking time, you actual prick.  
Where’s Lloyd?

aww, sweet of you to call me a prick  
and he’s in an altercation with the rat-bastard who kidnapped you  
where are you? are the other kids with you?

Hope Lloyd kicks his ass. He fucking deserves it.  
And yeah, I’m in a room with the other kids.  
But listen, that shithead has good hearing.  
Better than your average faerie’s, but not as good as yours.  
I’m gonna take my phone off of vibrate and put it on wicked low.  
And you’re gonna have three rings to find me.  
Any more than that, and he’ll catch me.  
And apparently when he catches you it’s not pretty.

got it. Tell me when to call

Now.

 

Micah took a deep breath in and out before dialing Ari. It took a few seconds, but sure enough, he could hear a very faint ringtone—and he could tell where it was coming from.

“Gotcha,” he whispered, and he took off.

The door was open when he got there, Ari in the doorway. “Am I ever glad to see you,” she said, throwing her arms around Micah’s neck.

Micah hugged her back, tightly. “I was so worried about you, kid.”

“I know. But hey, I’ve made myself useful.”

“Oh?”

“I have the names and addresses of every single kid in this room.”

“Ari, you’re incredible,” Micah breathed, slipping into the room and shutting the door.

“Thanks. I figured you and Lloyd would come save us soon, and it would save you some trouble.”

“It definitely did. Listen, I’m gonna need your help again.”

Ari pulled her hair into a ponytail. “What do you need?”

“How good are you at casting an encanto?”

“Pretty good. Why?”

“I need all of these kids convinced that the police caught and killed their kidnapper and their memories completely wiped of anything that may have happened to them here, at least of the magical variety,” said Micah. “We can’t have the parents knowing about faeries.”

“Hmm,” said Ari. “I mean, I can do it, but I’ll have to get each kid to tell me exactly what happened to them, so I know what to wipe. Which I can do, but for all of these kids… it’ll be hard. It’ll drain me.”

“I know it will, and I’ll help you,” said Micah. “But I need you to take the lead on this. I need to be awake and alert to help Lloyd and his kids when this is over. If you get drained—hell—if you knock yourself out, I’ll have one of Lloyd’s friends take you back home. You have that necklace that keeps you from needing to feed, right?”

“Yeah.” Ari grinned broadly. “Fuckface tried to swipe it from me, but it wouldn’t come off and he seemed to be in pain.”

“Excellent,” said Micah. “So you won’t need to feed right away, even if you do get knocked out. Ari, I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to help Lloyd and his kids when this is over.”

“Your kids,” Ari corrected quietly. “Trust me, Lloyd and the kids all see you as their parent.”

Micah bit his lip. He didn’t want to think about that right at that moment. “So, are you in?”

“Of course,” said Ari. “The kids know me better, anyway. Guard the door?”

“Yes ma’am.” Micah snapped a salute and stood at the door, listening carefully. He was able to hear Lloyd in the other room if he concentrated, and, with greater ease, Ari’s hissing as she listened to each child’s horror story.

“I’m so sorry,” he heard her whisper, over and over, as she held each child close. He could hear her words of comfort, and then the click of her fingers as she removed the burden of memory from their shoulders. Her tone shifted slightly as she told them what to tell her parents; this was standard form when casting—perfect form, actually; Micah noted to praise her later. And then, the click of her fingers again, sending them back into trance and locking the spell in place.

Part of him wondered whether he should wipe her memory as well, once this was all over. She was young, after all, and didn’t need the trauma.

Well, he could ask.

~~~~

Using a trick Nya had showed him, Lloyd gathered the water in the air and made a sphere around Morro’s head. Morro _snarled_ , and with a snap the snake around Lloyd’s neck bit his arm. Lloyd fell to one knee, quickly casting a healing spell.

Morro used his wind to push him backwards, and Lloyd thudded against the thick wood of a door. “Sloppy.”

“I’ll show you _sloppy_ ,” Lloyd growled, and grabbed his knife off the ground. The frost on it melted under the fire lapping over his hands. He didn’t think, he just lunged at Morro. Morro caught his wrist, and his knife stopped half an inch from Morro’s throat.

“Irrational. Nice. Unfortunately…” Morro twisted Lloyd’s arm, and disarmed him. “I’m better than you. At. Everything.”

“You’re right. You’re a bigger bully. You cheat. Well, too bad for you, because I do too.”

Lloyd stepped on Morro’s foot, and lashed out with pure energy, glowing green. Morro’s snake slithered towards Lloyd, and Lloyd carefully kicked it away. “Sorry, buddy,” he muttered. Morro was right- he liked snakes, and even if it was fake, he didn’t want to hurt it.

Maybe that was a weakness.

It was a weakness Lloyd could live with.

Morro hit him with wind again, and then reached for the sword on his back. When he unsheathed it, it shattered into ice shards. Lloyd grinned. “Whoops. Metals tend to… freeze around me.”

Morro snarled and tossed away his now useless hilt. “You’re nothing. I’m stronger.”

“Yah, you sound like a broken record.” Lloyd had always been more courageous in battle, more willing to mouth off—just to see what happened.

What happened is Morro grabbed the lamp from the hallway and hit him over the head with it.

Lloyd saw stars for a few seconds, and rose thorns started to wrap around his wrists.

~~~~

“Holding up alright?” Micah called, ear pressed to the door. He couldn’t hear as much as he could before, which could be promising or very, very bad. But he had to stay focused on the tas at hand.

“Almost done,” she replied. Micah turned to see that indeed, most of the kids were curled up on the floor. “But I can sense how much I have in me, and I’m gonna last until I finish with the kiddos or in about ten minutes, whichever comes first.”

“Then stop,” said Micah. “I can finish. What I need you to do is mark each one somehow, so when Lloyd calls in his buddies, we can deliver them to the right houses.”

“Got it,” said Ari. “I’ll get on that right now.”

Micah nodded and knelt down next to one of the kids who was still awake, praying that this poor kid’s story wouldn’t break his heart.

(Spoiler alert: it did.)

He was a lot faster than Ari was, but nevertheless, by the time he finished with the last three, Ari was barely standing, the effect of using so much magic finally hitting her with full force. “Oh, Ari,” he murmured, rushing to her side and hugging her close. “You’ve marked them all?”

“Each one has a number,” she mumbled. She shoved a piece of paper into Micah’s hand. “Key… right here… and the encanto will wear off in… about an hour. They’ll probably… probably wake up after that.”

“Gotcha,” said Micah, still holding her. “You did amazing, kiddo. I’m so proud of you.”

“Tell me I can nap now,” Ari begged.

“Absolutely.” Micah slowly knelt with her still in his arms, laid her down, and pulled off his sweatshirt to make her a pillow. He brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her forehead as he shifted her so her head was on top of the sweater. “Rest, kiddo. You’ve so beyond earned it.”

She fell asleep a mere few seconds later.

~~~~

Lloyd panted as his arms raised in surrender without him moving them.

Morro liked playing puppetmaster.

“Done yet? Haven’t you had enough? You really don’t care if you die.”

“As long as you’re going down with me.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“No.” Lloyd closed his eyes and scraped together every remaining piece of magic he had. “Die,” he commanded.

A blast of green energy knocked Morro all the way down the hall, and broke the door he slammed into. The rose ropes around Lloyd’s wrists disappeared, and, now able to control his limbs again, he ran towards Morro.

Morro coughed and shoved a plank of wood off of him. “You thought that would work?” He laughed. “You thought _that_ would kill _me_?”

“No. But this will.” And Lloyd took out his knife and sunk it into Morro’s throat. He looked started, with wide green eyes.

Lloyd stood up, unwilling to look at the body. “Never travel with only one knife. You taught me that.”

~~~~

Micah sighed quietly as he looked around the room. He hadn’t been listening at the door to see what Lloyd was up to, so he had no idea if—

Someone began knocking on the door, loudly. “Micah, it’s me,” Lloyd said from the other side. “Let me in.”

“I’m really banking on this whole ‘faeries can’t lie thing’ when you say it’s you,” Micah said as he opened the door. “Tell me there isn’t a way around that.”

“Nah. Thankfully. Are the kids okay?”

“Yeah, they’re all good. Call in your buddies; we’ll need a whole squadron to take them home.”

“On it,” said Lloyd. “Wait, is that Ari over there?”

“Yeah. Knocked herself out wiping all of these kids’ memories.”

Lloyd rolled his eyes. “Micah, we could’ve—”

“—Listen, I wouldn’t be shocked if this building is set to like, self destruct or something. Now that that asshole is incapacitated—he is, right?”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Now that that asshole is incapacitated, this thing could blow up. Better that the kids be all set and ready to get the hell out of here.”

“I can’t lie and say you’re wrong. I can have one of my friends take Ari home as well. Unless… wait, were you planning on—you’re gonna come back with me, right?”

His eyes suddenly became hollow, afraid, pleading.

“Of course,” said Micah. “Doing otherwise never crossed my mind.”

Lloyd went slightly pink. “I’ll. I’ll call my friends.”

“I’ll check the house to see if there’s anything that might signify an imminent explosion.”

“Got it. Hey, Micah?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for coming with me.”

Micah smiled. “Of course, dude. What are friends for?”

“Uh… helping each other take out their asshole cousins?”

“That works.”

“So… are we good? Are you still mad at me?”

Micah sighed. “I’m… I’m not mad at you, but I wanna talk about it. Later, though, okay? Don’t worry about it now.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll be okay, Lloyd. I promise. We’ll talk about this later, when you’ve recovered some from this whole thing. And really, I just want us to be the same page.”

Lloyd nodded, but he still seemed uneasy.

“Okay, listen. For all intents and purposes, we’re good. At least on my end. In need of better communication and a debrief on this tap-dancing fuckstravaganza, but we’re good. Alright?”

Finally, finally, Lloyd seemed less nervous. “Yeah. Yeah, that works.”

“Good. Now let’s go. Last thing I want is for us to explode, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next: the aftermath. maybe we'll actually get the brightshipping that y'all are used to.
> 
> tumblrs!
> 
> witchlightsands (rose)
> 
> she-doesnt-even-ninjagohere, nice-message-brightshipping, mod lia on justgreenstormthings (I feel like that's an accurate one to promo today), and mod allura on queenshippingofficial (lia)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here it is—the thrilling conclusion! and yes, y'all are gonna get a bit of fluff. we owe it to you.

Kai and the gang were on site within minutes. By the time Micah had checked the house for explosives, magical or otherwise, they were already in the back room with Lloyd, divvying up who would take which kids home.

“And one of you has to take Ari, remember,” he could hear Lloyd saying as he approached. “I think she may have written her own address on this list… yeah, here she is; she’s the last one.”

“Everything okay in here?” Micah asked.

“Getting there,” Nya replied. “We have a few kids that live in awkward places, but we’ll figure it out soon.”

“I’m about to head out with my group,” said Cole. “I’m taking these two kids—numbers two and seven—and Ari.”

“Great,” said Lloyd, making notes on Ari’s list.

“Kiddo, do you want me to take over?” Kai asked. “You’ve already done a lot.”

“Do I want you to? Yeah, to an extent. But I’m still not gonna let you.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Want my help?” Micah asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” said Lloyd. “I think most of the groups are figured out, but if you could just go around and make sure everyone has their people…”

“You got it.”

~~~~

It took another eight minutes or so, but eventually all of the faeries debarked with their groups. Lloyd had wandered out of the room about three minutes in, saying that he needed some space, and the fact that he had very pointedly put Ari’s list into Micah’s hands before leaving was a pretty clear signal that he wanted to be alone.

Micah took a last look around to make sure there were no loose ends, and then made his way back to the front of the building. “Lloyd? Everyone’s gone. We can go home now.” No response. “Lloyd? Lloyd, where are y—oh.”

For a being literally unable to lie, Lloyd was a pretty good actor. Micah hadn’t noticed how exhausted he was, but apparently he was exhausted enough to decide that curling up on the floor where he had just had an epic and almost definitely traumatizing showdown, wasn’t so bad of an idea.

Or maybe, all of that just made Micah oblivious.

And now, Micah had to make a choice. He could wake Lloyd up, in which case Lloyd would realize that he had fallen asleep on his asshole cousin’s floor about fifty feet away from said asshole cousin’s dead body, or he could  _ not  _ wake Lloyd up, carry him back to Faerie, and tell Lloyd that he had passed out… somewhere else, to be determined.

Well, when he put it  _ that  _ way, it was far from a tough decision.

“C’mere, greenie,” he said softly, scooping Lloyd into his arms. Lloyd tensed briefly, mumbled something in his sleep, and then relaxed again in Micah’s arms, and  _ did he just nuzzle closer to me oh shit I think he did oh shit. _ “Let’s get you the fuck out of here.”

~~~~

“Okay, it’s official, I am never Naruto Running™ across state lines  _ with someone in my arms  _ ever again,” Micah panted, standing in front of the faerie ring in Central Park. Just after leaving the fortress of hell, he remembered that the Boston faerie ring deposited rather far away from Lloyd’s place, and honestly he didn’t want to have to deal with being a vampire carrying a seemingly unconscious faerie, even if just about everyone  _ did  _ know him by now.

So instead, he super-sped from Boston to New York City.

Obviously.

Lloyd, thankfully, didn’t wake up during the trip. Micah hadn’t quite come up with how he was going to explain the fact that Lloyd had fallen asleep, without explaining exactly where.

Holding Lloyd closer to him, but not exactly knowing why, Micah stepped into the faerie ring.

Kai was waiting when they got there, leaning against one of the trees. “When did he fall asleep?”

“Hello to you too,” Micah muttered. “Depends. How strict are those rules around faeries lying?”

“Explain?”

“Can you claim plausible deniability?”

“Not really.”

“Then I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, but I can’t risk Lloyd asking you and you having to tell him the truth.”

“Lemme guess. After he left the room, he curled up on the floor somewhere and fell asleep.”

Micah sighed. “Fifty feet away from Dickwad McGee’s dead body.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” said Kai. “I won’t be around when he wakes up. Lloyd’s gonna want space from me for a decently long time after this, so you’re gonna be the one who tells him how he fell asleep. By the time he’s ready to have me around again, he won’t even be thinking about it, and so he won’t poke around.”

“That is the kind of stroke of luck mixed with bullshit that I can get behind,” said Micah. “Wait, but if he’s gonna want space, why are you here?”

“I needed to know that he got back home safely. That, he would have understood if he were awake. But now that I’ve seen him, he’s intact, he’s with you, I’m gonna go. Don’t be alarmed if he doesn’t ask for me, or for anyone really. And for the love of God, be there for his kids.”

“Our kids,” Micah said quietly. “For all intents and purposes, they’re my kids too.”

Kai nodded, cracking the smallest hint of a smile. “I’ll see you around.”

Micah took Lloyd up to his room without a second thought and laid him on the bed, pulling a blanket over him before  pausing for a moment. And then, he sat down next to  Lloyd , sighing and gently tangling his fingers in  his hair.

“Figures the only way for you to want to make out with me is with a magic spell, huh?” Micah snorted. “I don’t even know if I want to bring it up.”

“I just… want you to be okay. Okay, Lloyd? Be okay. For… for me.”

On impulse, Micah leaned over and kissed his forehead before  getting up and heading for the door.

As soon as he exited, a small burst of pink light shot at the door, shutting it and casting a glow on the front in the shape of the “mute” symbol. A soundproofing spell, he realized.

“What the heck?” Micah asked.

Suddenly, he was met with giggling as Eliza and Sam burst out of seemingly nowhere—and then loud singing.

“WHO D’YOU THINK YOU’RE KIDDIN’, HE’S THE EARTH AND HEAVENS TO YOU! TRY TO KEEP IT HIDDEN; HONEY WE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU! DUDE YOU CAN’T CONCEAL IT, WE KNOW HOW YOU’RE FEELING, WHO YOU’RE THIIIIIIIIIIIIINKING OOOO-OOF!”

Micah groaned. “Oh, come on.”

The kids were in hysterics.  “Treasure this moment, Sammy,” said Eliza. “We may never see one like it again.”

“Sammy?” Micah questioned.

“Nickname from this show I used to be into before I realized how messed up it and the actors were.”

Oh, yes.  _ That _ show. Eugh.  “Look, I appreciate you love your brother, just don’t go to hell for him.”

Sam coughed to cover up a laugh. “So, what happened?”

Micah looked at their bright expressions, Sam with his smile and Eliza with her newly magicked bright pink hair. They were fourteen and thirteen, respectively. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“That bad?”

“Don’t press it right now, okay, kids?”

They both nodded. Micah smiled and ruffled their hair. “Alright, come on, how long have you two been up?”

“Not long,” Sam protested as he yawned. 

“Go to sleep, please.”

“Okay,  _ Dad _ ,” Eliza stuck her tongue out at him. “You have a  _ week  _ to admit you like him.”

“Dream about it.”

~~~~

The first thing Lloyd did when he woke up was run down to hug his brother and sister.

Kai seemed a little startled, and Nya just smiled. “Are you alright?” 

“Not exactly. But I love you guys.” Lloyd closed his eyes. “Did all the kids end up safe?”

“Yah, promise. Ari is safe too.”

“Thank God.”

There was a pause, thirty seconds, forty seconds, a minute…

“Where’s Micah?”

“In the garden again, with the kids. He didn’t want to leave until you woke up.”

“Wait, so—” Lloyd blinked a few times. “Wait, hold on, what are you doing in my house?”

“Micah and I had a slumber party in your living room,” said Nya. “We had no idea when you were gonna wake up, if you were gonna be up for doing anything, and someone has to watch the kids. Kai only came over because he wanted to give something back to me, and he was just about to leave when you woke up.”

“You and Micah… had a slumber party… in my living room… without asking me?”

“In our defense, Eliza and Sam asked us to stay. Well, they asked Micah to stay, and Micah felt weird sleeping in your living room, so we made it into a slumber party.”

“I… okay. Okay. It’s far from the weirdest, or the worst, thing I’ve heard this week.”

“Gotta love some good old asshole-induced perspective,” said Kai.

“Yeah… okay, I gotta go talk to Micah.”

~~~~

Micah was leaning against a tree a few yards away from the kids when Lloyd came outside, rolling a coin across his knuckles. “Hey,” he said softly. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah… uhhh, when did I pass out?”

“You don’t remember any of it?”

“I remember needing some space, and then… yeah, nothing until waking up this morning.”

_ Here goes nothing.  _ “I checked on you about five minutes after you left. You were kinda zoned out, you were staring into space, and I came up to you and tapped your shoulder… and you basically just collapsed.”

“What, like fainted?”

“Nah, more like you were too tired to keep doing stuff, so you kinda… well, you leaned on me, and then your knees gave out and I had to pick you up. And then about thirty seconds later, maybe a minute, you were asleep.”

“Oh. That’s… that’s a little embarrassing.”

“No more embarrassing than when I fell into a faerie ring accidentally.”

Lloyd laughed, eyes shining for the first time in who the fuck knew how long, making Micah wish he had a heartbeat so he could feel his heart race.

And then—

“I need to say sorry,”  said Lloyd.  Micah  suddenly wouldn’t meet his eyes, and the cold pit in Lloyd’s stomach wouldn’t go away. “I shouldn’t have told you to fuck off in Boston; I shouldn’t have snapped at you when you were trying to help. I have no excuse. I’m sorry.”

Micah didn’t respond at first, and continued rolling a coin across his knuckles. Lloyd didn’t understand why- apparently he’d read it in a book, and taught himself how, but Lloyd didn’t get the appeal. He pocketed the coin and stood up to look at Lloyd. “I’m sorry for pushing you. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard, when you were already upset.”

Lloyd smiled, just a little. “So we’re good again?”

“We’re good, promise.” Micah offered a hand, and Lloyd shook it.

Lloyd’s hand was warm, wonderfully warm, and Micah’s hand felt rather tingly. Side effect of contact with a magical being. And Micah decided then and there that the tingling in his skin when he touched Lloyd’s hand, was the most beautiful thing in the world.

He smiled, and Lloyd decided then and there: that was the most beautiful thing in the universe. Micah smiling. “Come on; your kids want to see you.”

“And I want to see them.” And Lloyd let himself be led over to where his kids were building lumpy snowmen. Lloyd laughed and started to show them how it was done, and he turned around to ask Micah if he saw any rocks, but Micah was gone, leaving Lloyd with a half formed snowman in the pine trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaand there you have it, y'all. the shit hit the fan and the gang cleared it all up. and morro is dead. that's nice.
> 
> up next, we'll be going back to our regularly scheduled programming of oneshots.
> 
> tumblrs!!!
> 
> \- witchlightsands (rose)  
> \- she-doesnt-even-ninjagohere, mod allura on queenshippingofficial, mod lia on justgreenstormthings (lia)


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